All this (much-deserved) shine on Joseph R. Holmes, but he is not my direct ancestor.  What do I know about Jasper Holmes?

• Jasper Holmes was born about 1841 in Charlotte County, Virginia. He was probably the son of Payton and Nancy Holmes, who are listed on his brother Joseph’s death certificate. His step-father may have been Walter “Wat” Clark.
• Circa 1862, presumably in Charlotte County, Jasper married a woman named Matilda, who is nearly a complete enigma. Though she is consistently named in census records, her children’s birth certificates call her Matilda, Mary and Ellen. I have never found her and Jasper’s marriage license, nor is her maiden name listed elsewhere. She died 26 July 1885 in Charles City County, Virginia, and her death certificate lists her place of birth of Charles City County, but this is doubtful.
• Jasper and Matilda’s first child, Robert Holmes, was born about 1863, probably in Charlotte County.
• Tax records filed in Charlotte Court House for 1866 list Jasper Holmes in District #2 (T.M. Jones, revenue commissioner) and paying one black poll tax.
• Charlotte County tax records for 1867 show that Jasper had moved to District #1, Charles W. Harver, commissioner, and was living at J.A. Selden’s. He paid one black poll tax.
• Second child Walter Holmes was born about 1867, probably in Charlotte County. He presumably was named after his step-grandfather.
• Third child Angelina “Lina” Holmes was born about 1869, probably in Charles City County.
• On 3 May 1869, Jasper’s brother Joseph R. Holmes was shot dead at Charlotte Court House while asserting the rights of a freedman against a former slaveowner. Around this time, whether in direct response to this terrible crime or not, Jasper and his family, as well as his mother and stepfather’s family, moved more than 100 miles east to Charles City County.
• In the 1870 census of Harrison, Charles City County, Virginia: in Wilsons Landing post office district, Jasper Holmes, wife Matilda, and children Robert, 7, Walter, 3, and Angeline, 1, plus William Jones. (Was Jones a relative, perhaps of Matilda? Thomas and Louisa Jones and family lived next door.)
• Fourth child William Holmes was born in 1872 in Charles City County.
• On 4 Apr 1873, Jasper Holmes filed a deed (book 12, page 483) at Charles City County Courthouse for the purchase for $5 of 10 acres in the Mill Quarter tract from A.H. Drewry et ux.  The sale took place 18 Feb 1873.
• Fifth child Joseph Holmes was born in 1874 in Charles City County. He was named after his uncle, Joseph R. Holmes.
• On January 20 and 21, 1875, William and Joseph Holmes died of whooping cough.
• Sixth child Emma V. Holmes was born about 1876 in Charles City County.
• Seventh child Mary Agnes Holmes, my great-grandmother, was born 15 October 1877 in Charles City County. Her birth certificate notes that the family lived at R.L. Adams’ place.
• On 20 Jan 1879, Jasper Holmes filed a deed (book 12, page 332) at Charles City County Courthouse for the purchase on 16 Oct 1878 of 9 acres from Robert L. Adams et ux.  The tract was bordered by William Rolands, Robert L. Adams, the old breastworks or fortifications, and the old ditch.
• Eighth child Martha “Mattie” Holmes was born about 1879.
• In the 1880 census of Harrison, Charles City County: Jasper Holmes, wife Matilda, and children Robt., 19, Walter, 13, Lena, 10, Emma, 4, Agness, 2, and Mattie Holmes, 1.
• A ninth child, an unnamed male, was born in 1880 in Charles City County. On 18 November 1880, that child died.
• Tenth child Julia Ellen Holmes was born on 1 July 1882 in Charlotte County. [A second birth registration lists her year of birth as 1872, but she is not listed in the 1880 census.]
• An eleventh child, unnamed, was born 26 July 1885 and died 2 September 1885.
• On 26 July 1885, Jasper registered a death certificate for wife Matilda Holmes, who died in childbirth.
• On 4 June 1886 (or 1887, there are conflicting duplicate records), son Walter died of consumption.
• On 8 November 1886 (or 1887, there are conflicting duplicate records), daughter Angelina died of consumption.
• On 30 Dec 1890, Alonzo P. Patterson filed a deed of transfer at Charles City County Courthouse for the transfer of 10 acres from Jasper Holmes to him.
• On 7 Aug 1897, Jasper Holmes filed a deed at Charles City County Courthouse for the purchase of two lots, one 6 acres, the other 1 3/4 acres from A.H. Drewry et ux.
• On 30 Dec 1899, at Charles City County Courthouse, the estate of Jasper Holmes, dec’d, filed a deed of transfer for 10 acres to Mary H. Allen and John C. Allen, her husband (my great-grandparents), and Martha H. Smith and Jesse Smith, her husband, all of Newport News VA; and Julia E. Holmes, unmarried, of Charles City County VA, heirs at law of Jasper Holmes.
• On 10 Jan 1910, at Charles City County Courthouse, Mary Allen of Newport News VA and Julia Holmes of the City of New York, children and only heirs of Jasper Holmes, dec’d, filed a deed of sale for the sale of 10-acre and 6 3/4-acre parcels to James Clark for $300.